Ottawa pop-up Pap test clinic to encourage overdue sexual health tests

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Three Ottawa-area physicians are organizing a full-day Pap test clinic for people who are due for cervical screening tests but do not have a family doctor. They’re calling the event Pap-apalooza.

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Dr. Lesley Spencer, a family physician with a practice focusing on women’s health and one of the organizers of the event, said there are lots of people who are overdue for a Pap test as it was not an urgent essential service during the pandemic.

“We’re almost using it (the event) as a reminder to people to get this done because I think a lot of people put it off,” said Spencer.

The idea of organizing the event was reinforced by similar Pap-apalooza events in British Columbia where physicians work with medical students to provide pop-up Pap smear clinic events across the province, said Spencer. “It was one of those things where it was like ‘oh it would be great’, and then somebody in B.C. was doing it. So why not just model off what they’re doing?”

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The Ontario Ministry of Health recommends aged 21 and older sexually active women and transgender men with a cervix get a Pap test every three years to check for abnormal cervical cells that can lead to human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical cancer.

The pop-up clinic will be at the Rideau Valley Health Centre on 1221 Greenbank Rd. in Barrhaven from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 5.

At least three doctors will be working at the event with possibly two more assisting based on the amount of Pap test bookings. Spencer said Pap-apalooza hopes to get Ottawa medical students involved by giving them an opportunity to get hands-on experience working at the clinic.

If the event is successful, Spencer and her colleagues, Dr. Kaitlyn Orton-Schmitt, Dr. Caitlyn Schwartz, Dr. Annelise Miller and Dr. Tonja Stothart, are looking to expand Pap-apalooza events across the city in Kanata, Orleans and central Ottawa. If there is continued demand, clinics will extend to outlying areas outside the city such as Kemptville and Arnprior.

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Spencer and Orton-Schmitt already rent clinic space at the Rideau Valley Health Centre. Ontario Health Insurance Plan is covering the cost of testing supplies and the doctors are paying for staffing at the clinic.

The event will have music in the waiting room, snacks, drinks and loot bags for those who sign-up.

To be eligible for a Pap Test at the event, registrants must have a valid OHIP card and not have a family doctor. Doctors will contact patients with abnormal results.

Patients can call to book a Pap test at the event at 613-258-8710 x4 or via walk-in at the clinic on May 5.